I invite you to turn with me this morning to Matthew chapter 25, our text being verses 1 through 13, the familiar parable of the ten virgins. We will pick up our reading in chapter 24, verse 36. I must be honest with you, back late in January, the Lord brought to my mind some of the words of our text, watch therefore for no man knows the day or the hour. And that's the reason for that, I think, is because in the span of a week's, one week's time out by us, there was a lady living right up the street from the church, a member of one of the other local United Reformed churches. She was a homeschool mom, but she was taking an international student to school. She was 50 years old, and she no sooner got away from their house onto the main road and hit a patch of ice and was killed instantly as another car crashed into her. About the same time, in one of the local communities of Rockford, Michigan, I heard on the news that the city manager, 48 years old, had a major stroke and died. About the same time, then I happened to see on Facebook a high school friend of myself and I suspect Jim Brooke, we were in high school together, 53 years old, taking a walk, died suddenly of a heart attack, and these words were brought to my mind, and then I remembered also about eight years ago, as Pastor Gordon remembers full well, a fellow minister in Lethbridge, the United Reformed Church in Lethbridge, and I remember praying for him from this pulpit, Eric Fenema died suddenly of a heart attack, I think he was about 57 years old or so at the time. I remember hearing, and Pastor Gordon confirmed, that the very last sermon he preached was in Pastor Gordon's church in Linden, and it was on this passage. The very last sermon he preached. For you know neither the day nor the hour. Something that we need to be reminded of always. We pick up our reading at Matthew chapter 24, beginning at verse 36. But concerning that day and hour, no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two men will be in the field, one will be taken and one left. Two women will be grinding at the mill, one will be taken and one left. Therefore stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. Who then is the faithful and wise servant whom his master has set over his household to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. But if that wicked servant says to himself, My master is delayed and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him, and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. In our text. Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise, for when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was a cry, Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him. Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps, and the foolish said to the wise, Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out. But the wise answered, saying, Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves. And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast. And the door was shut. Afterward, the other virgins came also, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered, truly I say to you, I do not know you. Watch therefore, for you know neither the day or the hour. Let's pray together. Our Father in heaven, once again, we come before you seeking your blessing. We pray, Holy Spirit of God, that what we know not, you would teach us. For we have not, you would give us. For we are not, you would make us. For the sake of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. Well, beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, I suspect that preparing for special guests to arrive, especially if you haven't seen them for a while, is something that we all understand. As grandparents whose children and grandchildren live a distance away, or as children and grandchildren whose parents and grandparents live a distance away, Or even if you are planning to see an old friend that you haven't seen for a long, long time, a special friend. We all understand preparing for special guests to arrive. And that preparation includes making the house ready. It includes making meal plans. It includes planning to be able to spend time with them. And there is an excitement. There is an anticipation as we wait for them to either pull in the driveway, boys and girls, to see Grandpa and Grandma or to see them come off the plane. We are focused on their arrival. And really, the question at the outset for us to consider this morning then, is this how we are preparing to meet the Lord Jesus Christ face to face? Is this how we are preparing to meet Him face to face? Because He is coming again. Make no mistake about it. That is the very, very clear teaching of the Word of God. That is the clear teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, that He is coming again. He teaches that, especially in Matthew 24, in an intense way, teaching of the signs of the times pointing to His universally public return. Every eye is going to see Him when He comes. Even as our Lord Jesus says, as the lightning flashes in the east and can be seen in the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. Yet, the time of His coming will be secret. It is secret because it's unknown. Unless many would lose heart and begin to fear that there is no hope, especially as we look at the world around us and we see all the chaos and the upheaval in the world around us, unless many should start to doubt His return and become lazy, He cautions in verse 13, watch therefore as it's also translated in other versions be on the alert watch therefore be on the alert for you need no neither the day nor the hour and indeed that's true with his second coming and that's what he's talking about here but we can rightly say it's also true it may very well also be true as i pointed out with those illustrations at the beginning it may be true with regard to death to this life for any one of us and Jesus reminds us here that this life that we enjoy today is not the end of the matter for which we are to strive he reminds us that this life is a means to an end he reminds us where our true focus is to be ultimately and that is as he points to the certainty of His coming using the comforting example of a bridegroom coming for the bride. He is coming either for us by death or to us on the clouds of glory. And a very, very simple point. If you take nothing else away this morning, please take this simple point. Be ready. Be ready. This parable, you see, is a picture of the visible church in the last days. And with this parable, our Lord reminds us why we are to be alert, why we are to be watching. We are to be always ready for Christ's guaranteed return. First of all, making the necessary preparations as our Lord lays before us. He uses a cultural example of a wedding. Now, we need to be reminded at the outset that with regard to parables, not every word, not every phrase has a spiritual counterpart. So we need to keep that in mind. But with regard to what we might know about weddings in the day of our Lord in a general way, on the day of the wedding, the bride would make herself ready with her attendance. The bridegroom would celebrate with his friends, and then he would make his way to his bride that he might receive her to himself and go to the place of celebration. And when the announcement was made that the bridegroom was on his way, then the bridesmaids, or the virgins as they are called here, would go to meet him with their lamps. Now, boys and girls, these lamps were most likely like wooden poles with some sort of a bowl-type structure on top, and the oil would be in the bowl and a wick coming out of that bowl. But they would go to meet him with their lamps to show the bridegroom honor, lighting his way on this special day as he was to take to himself his bride. And the virgins, and this is a very, very simple point, but the virgins expected the arrival of the bridegroom. In other words, they never expected that He would not show up. They never doubted His coming. And to show Him the honor that He deserved, they were to be prepared with their lamps ready in hand to light His path. And beloved, that is the call of the church. That is the call of believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. On the one hand, to prepare the world for the return of Christ. Lighting His path through gospel proclamation. Proclaiming the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Indeed, by way of word. But also through action, as our Lord Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount. In the same way, let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Our call is to light the way for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. To let the world know that He is coming again. That the world would not stay in darkness and ignorance so the world can never say, I didn't know. To sound forth His coming. But not only to prepare the world, but to prepare ourselves for His return. To expect it, in other words. To expect it. To be ready for it. To be looking for it. to be personally prepared now these 10 virgins all 10 with their lamps and i say that carefully these 10 virgins with their lamps represent the visible church professing believers and there's difficulty with that we know because there is a distinction in the visible church that we learn from other parables there are weeds that are growing among the wheat that look a lot like the wheat there are bad fish being gathered in the net with the good fish there are foolish virgins with the wise and one day that distinction will be made clear and final when our lord jesus comes again beginning in verse two five of them were foolish and five were wise for when the foolish took their lamps they took no oil with them but the wise took flasks of oil with their lambs. There are those in the visible church who profess, who confess with their mouths, but not with their hearts, with their lips, but they do not really believe. There are hypocrites. Not those who are hypocritical, because that would include each and every one of us at some point in time, and maybe often, but those whom our Lord Jesus calls hypocrites, that he says at the end of chapter 24, their place will be in that place where there will be weeping and gnashing of tea and these are like lamps without oil as in girls if that bowl like structure had no oil in it there would be nothing for the wick to to to suck up and to burn or think about a modern day kerosene lantern if there's no kerosene in the bottom of the lantern there is nothing to be drawn up through that wick to keep the flame burning or a flashlight without a flat without batteries or even the light switch in the house if there's no electricity going to it it's not going to work these lamps without oil were no good there was no true light they were empty and useless and this this represents the outward form of the christian life without the inward substance of the christian life no new birth no true faith or good talk maybe no godly sorrow for sin only going to the motions these are those who grasp for the benefits of the kingdom but they shun the obligations of the kingdom to repent of their sins to believe on and to trust in the lord jesus christ they find confidence in themselves those described by paul in second timothy 3 verse 5 as having a form of godliness an outward form of godliness but denying its power hypocrites the truth is we can't always if ever recognize hypocrites can we we are to know the truth of ourselves to be sure we can maybe never truly know the truth about someone else but god can god does without mistake these virgins without oil were not interested in the honor of the bridegroom but they were interested in their own pleasure in contrast to the lamps with oil representing the outward form of the Christian life, vitalized by the inward substance, having both the form of godliness and the power of God unto salvation in Christ alone. Their desire, their motive, is the honor of Christ the Bridegroom whenever He comes and in whatever way He may come, whether by death or on the clouds of glory. These are filled with and illumined by the grace of God through faith, by the blessing of the Holy Spirit, and they do what it takes to honor the bridegroom and to keep from dishonoring the bridegroom. They are not those living with one foot, as it were, in the kingdom and one foot into the world. And there is a constant flow in them. You may remember in the Old Testament tabernacle, provision was made for a constant flow of oil to keep the lamps burning that they might never go out. There's a constant flow by the grace of God through the instrument of faith by which the believer's profession is illumined to shine bright for the glory of God. With that faith, nourished, if you will, by pouring oil into that faith through the means of grace. The means of grace. The preaching of the Word of God and that visible means. The sacraments that our Lord has given to us. Beloved, we are called to be always ready for Christ's guaranteed return, making the necessary preparations, Even though the bridegroom is delayed. Even though the bridegroom is taking longer than expected. Notice in the parable, all ten became drowsy. All ten fell asleep. And we have to confess that the second coming of Christ has always seemed to be taking longer than expected. We know that Paul in his writings and in some of the churches he planted, they expected that it would be any day. It's been almost 2,000 years. Boys and girls, 2,000 years, we can't even fathom that. It's like an eternity. Sometimes a year is like an eternity for us. But the sad truth is that many do not take this truth that Christ is coming again seriously, or at least they live as if they are not taking it seriously. Yeah, yeah, we say it, we confess that He's coming again. We don't doubt death, we don't doubt physical death. I mean, we taste that constantly, whether it be the death of a friend or a loved one. or whether it be reading the obituary page every day. We don't doubt physical death, but Jesus Christ coming on the clouds of glory with every eye able to see Him? That's a little bit much. But true believers of all ages have been watching with a longing eye, expecting Him to return from the clouds of glory. And even believers in the midnight hour of life, they may not always understand and what's taking God so long. I remember some of the saints from this congregation whom the Lord has taken and they knew that their life was coming to an end and they were disappointed in the morning when they woke to a new day here because they had hoped the Lord would take them in their sleep. Yet they were expecting. They were waiting. Yet our Lord Jesus Christ, beloved, is not going to come one moment later than God has planned. He is not going to come one moment earlier. And praise be to God that until He comes, He is still gathering His church. How comforting that is to be for us, especially as we think of loved ones or friends who have not yet embraced the Lord Jesus Christ by faith or who may have seemed to have fallen away for a season. Praise God that He is still gathering His church. But the wise are prepared by God's grace and they live every day in the consciousness that He is coming again. And beloved, that is to be us. Every single day, we are to live in that consciousness that He is coming again. Every single morning when we awake to a new day, we ought to say, this could be the day that our Lord returns in glory. Every night when we lay our heads down to sleep, the words of that childhood prayer are to be comforting to us. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take but again the foolish ignore that truth the foolish act like they don't care the foolish live as if christ will never come again or at least as if they will have plenty of time on the parable both the foolish and the wise slept as you can imagine they're even among reformed scholars there are different interpretations with regard to what that means including one that says even true believers become lazy and they take their eyes off of the goal and they say that because of what Jesus says in chapter 24 24 for false Christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders so as to lead astray if possible even the elect maybe that's what our Lord had in mind I mean the truth is believers do still struggle even with doubt but praise be to God that our assurance of salvation is not based on the strength of your faith or my faith. It's not based on the quantity of your faith or my faith. Dangerously, some who seem to have the most faith may very well be included among the foolish. Our assurance is not based on the strength of the quantity of our faith, but it's based on Christ alone. That beautiful hymn, My Faith Has Found a Resting Place, the second stanza says this, Enough for me. It is enough for me that Jesus saves. This ends my fear and doubt. A sinful soul, I come to Him. He'll never cast me out. I need no other argument. I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died. And that He died for me. I personally don't believe that that previous interpretation that I mentioned is what our Lord has in mind here. And I say that for this reason, I agree with those who say that for this reason, because we need to notice that the sleep was not the cause of the downfall of the foolish, and nor were the wise scolded for it. He didn't chastise them for sleeping. Again, the very simple point is preparation versus a lack of preparation. And no matter when the bridegroom would have appeared or have come, the situation would have been the same the foolish would still have had no oil because of a lack of preparation and the wise would have had oil because they were prepared they were watching or to put it another way the foolish were sleeping soundly into their ignorance as the wise were sleeping soundly knowing that they were indeed prepared the lamp and the light or the lack of is pointing to that outward life that we all have, believers and those who act like they're believers. But the oil, the oil is a sign of being prepared. That oil points to that Spirit-filled life. It points to the hope of the Christian that governs the Christian's whole way of life. That hope given by the grace of God is living because of the resurrected Christ. And it is the confidence of knowing that one stands in a right relationship with Him, prepared, secondly, for the unexpected announcement. That announcement expected by the believer, but also unexpected by the child of God. Again, because we don't know when. Beginning at verse 6, But at midnight there was a cry, Here is the bridegroom, come out to meet Him. Then all those virgins rose and trimmed to their lamps, and the foolish said to the wise, Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out. But the wise answered, saying, Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves. Now really, there is no surprise, is there, with regard to the actions of both the foolish and the wise. The wise were able to light their lamps because they had the oil, and the foolish were not able to light their lamps because they didn't have oil. The midnight hour points to that least expected time. When the world is sleeping soundly. Boys and girls, not that our Lord Jesus is coming necessarily at midnight or in the middle of the night. Because when it's the middle of the night here in Southern California, you know it's the middle of the day somewhere else in the world. And even a bridegroom coming at midnight, I suspect that Melissa yesterday wouldn't have been very happy if Dan would have waited until midnight to come. That would have been a bit disconcerting. But again, the point is very simply that even when we least expect the Lord to return, we are called to be always ready every moment in the midst of whatever we are doing. And dear people of God, that begs the comment, therefore, if we don't want Jesus to find us doing X, Y, or Z, then we ought never be doing X, Y, or Z. Because if it's not proper when He appears, it certainly isn't proper now. but with regard to the church we need to ask are we in the midst of this sleep when much of the visible church is doubting the truth or changing the truth to fit what is comfortable is the church in the midst of the slumber when many have forgotten who Jesus Christ really is or have rejected who he is are we in the midst of the sleep when many take the word of God and twist it to fit their own agenda in such a horrible way are we in the midst of this sleep when there is so much compromise of the church with the world and when many are playing church but looking nothing like the church according to scriptures jesus made it clear that the time of his coming is unknown except to god it will be as a thief boys and girls it's going to be a surprise the thief doesn't send you a postcard and say i'm going to come on such and such a date as such and such a time we don't know when he's coming yet it'll be very public as paul says that the trumpet blasts from heaven or again as our lord jesus says as a lightning however when he comes each and every one will stand before him on their own i agree with those who would say that that's what we are to see in the request of the foolish to borrow oil from the wise we might wonder well why didn't the wise why weren't they just nice i mean the bible says we are to share why weren't they just nice and why didn't they just give some of their oil to the foolish that's not the point here that's covered somewhere else in scripture but the point is there's no possibility of borrowing from or being accepted by god on the basis of others each will be judged according to the state of his or her own heart. And not necessarily, and I say this carefully, not necessarily according to what they did or did not do, because again, even hypocrites can often look like believers. Satan himself disguises himself as an angel of light. But those who by God's grace have believed and do perform works of righteousness, those works are evidence of that true faith. Each and every one will be judged according to the state of his own heart, according to what did you do with this Jesus? What did you do with the Jesus of the Bible? Who do you say the Jesus is? The foolish try to borrow the oil from the wise, but the wise realize that the oil that they have, in a sense, will service themselves only. Their oil cannot be shared. Their oil will not do the foolish any good. We're not talking here about witnessing or sharing our faith as God calls us to do, which he may very well use to bring someone to himself. But again, very simply, not one can or will be saved based on their physical connection with or association with a true church. Not one can or will be saved based on all the good that they have done. Not one can or will be saved based on their baptism or based on their profession of faith. Not one is going to be able to sneak into heaven hanging on to the shirt tails of a true believer. Husbands will not be saved just because their wives trusted in Christ. And vice versa. Children, young people, you will not be saved. And you know this. You will not be saved just because your parents are true believers. You need to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and not just believe the right things about Him. You are called to trust in the Lord. To trust in His crucifixion, the cross, His blood shed that alone cleanses from sin. To trust in Him for His righteousness that is freely given to His people. You need to know yourself to be the chief of sinners. You need to know your great need and that only Jesus will do. The psalmist in Psalm 49 speaks in verse 6 of those who trust in their wealth and boast of the abundance of their riches. And then he goes on, Truly no man can ransom another or give to God the price of his life. Last night, as a family with our dinner devotions, I read that and I explained that a few months back, I don't remember if it was before Brooklyn was born or after, But I was anticipating this very occasion, possibly being able to be here with you on the occasion of baptism. And I read that psalm, and that psalm talks about, read it, please read it, but it talks about the rich and the poor, the wise and the foolish and the wise, and they're all going to die, and no matter how much property someone owned here, all we end up with is whatever size piece it is in the cemetery that we're going to be buried in. But for some odd reason, when I read that psalm on that day, and I was thinking about this occasion, the Lord placed this thought in my mind that as parents, the moment our children are born, we are preparing them to die. We are preparing them to meet the Lord face to face. That is our job as parents. Supported as grandparents and as congregation. Only Jesus Christ will do children and He has done it. No one has an extra measure of grace to be borrowed to or to be credited to others that's why purgatory really is so ridiculous the idea of purgatory that that someone dies and and maybe they were on the fence i don't know how we know that you see but maybe they were on the fence and and they went they went to purgatory and those who are still alive can pray enough prayers or do enough whatever and maybe get them nudged to heaven or even the works of super irrigation that someone has has done enough in this life and they're set again i don't know how you know that you're set but any good works that you do beyond this can be credited to someone else it's foolish when our lord jesus christ appears on the hour of death or the last day those who were not prepared those who did not long for his appearing those who did not truly believe they will come up short they will come up empty-handed they will have nothing with which to honor the bridegroom because they had no profession of God's mercy and grace they do not understand who He is they have no Savior because they really didn't think they needed one I think as the old financial slogan used to say people don't plan to fail, they fail to plan may it be that not one of us here this morning would fail to plan for the return of the Lord Jesus Christ because on that day, hypocrites will want that which true believers have been graciously given by God, but they will miss out. But true believers by God's grace will not be caught off guard by the unexpected announcement because God has prepared them. They have been watching. They have been waiting. They have been filled with the oil of the Holy Spirit who has prepared them to meet the bridegroom. They have heeded the call to repent of their sins and to believe on and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. And therefore, they took their sin and their obedience seriously. They took what's really important seriously. By God's grace, they were sanctified and nourished to full preparation through the preaching and the study of the Word of God. But that time for preparation will be over when the Lord Jesus causes our eyes again to either close in death or when He appears, the instant He appears on the clouds of glory. The foolish virgins were not going to find an oil dealer open at midnight. And in the very same way, on that day, the preaching of the Gospel, the Lord Jesus Christ, the preaching of our only hope in Christ alone, in the hearing of those who were hard-hearted, in the hearing of those who continued to reject it, it will sound no more. And it will simply be too late. There will be no more warnings. The warning bell one day will cease to sound. There are going to be no late penalties that someone can pay and still move forward. But today is still the day of salvation. Beloved, we don't know about tomorrow. We don't even know about tonight for any one of us. But today is still the day of salvation. Today, this very moment, the door to the eternal wedding feast is still open for any who will trust in Christ. But when Jesus Christ, the bridegroom, comes to take his bride the church the door will quickly be shut and therefore we are to be always ready finally then because of the irreversible outcome verse 10 and while they were going to buy the bridegroom came and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast and the door was shut now believe it or not there is a twofold comfort for the child of god in those very words and the door was shut at the very same time words of horror for those who are not truly prepared the emphasis and the original is on the word shut and the idea there is to shut permanently boys and girls however you need to think about it whether whether to pour a hundred feet of concrete over that door or whether whether to weld it shut the door is shut permanently never ever ever to be opened again and here's the twofold comfort for believers that on the one hand believers will be shut in to the glorious presence of the lord never to be removed and the other part of that that all that is unholy and all that is untrue all unbelievers all sin will be shut out from the presence the glorious presence of the lord never to have contact with god and his love and therefore with His redeemed people ever again. A picture of Noah and those inside the ark closed behind the door by the hand of God versus those who perished on the outside. For as the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, Father Abraham said to the rich man, there's a great chasm that has been eternally fixed between here and there. And notice too from the text that the unprepared will demonstrate their ignorance, pounding on the door, begging to be let in. And here's where we need to be careful. It's not that they will be sympathetically, because of a change of heart pounding on the door, crying and begging to be let in, because in another portion of Scripture, we are told that when Jesus Christ appears, they're going to cry out for the rocks and the mountains to cover them. They who despise the grace of God's call to repent and mistakenly believe that they can enter glory without grace. our lord jesus pointed to that in the sermon on the mount to those who will say one day we cast out demons in your name we prophesied in your name we did all these notice we did all these things for you they think that they deserve to enter on their own merit only to hear i do not know you oh dear people of god let those piercing words from the mouth of the savior sink in to the foolish in essence one day he will say i never knew you i you were never my own i never loved you and maybe worst of all i never died for you by the fact that they were unrepentant they give evidence that they never knew his voice those who come empty-handed with hands not filled by the Holy Spirit with the saving work of the Lord Jesus Christ, they will be left stranded. The foolish virgins in the parable, they ignored their responsibility to be prepared. Theirs, if you will, was a checklist theology. I did this, I did that, I did the other thing, but they failed to take their sin and their obedience and their trust of heart and the nourishment of the Word of God seriously because they failed to take the Lord Jesus Christ seriously. They never knew that the announcement would be so unexpected. They had no clue that when the bridegroom came, the time had run out. And they never imagined that once the door was shut, it would never be opened again. But we know, boys and girls, young people, each and every one, we know. We have heard this morning. And has this Word of God penetrated your ears and more importantly, your heart. Are you prepared for the day that the Lord calls you home or when He comes on the clouds of glory? If you think, well, I'm not that bad. I'll be alright. You are sorely deceived. You are on dangerous ground. And an I'll-get-by attitude will fail you. We know that many at a young age, in every age of history, many at a young age, say, well, I'll worry about that. later i'll worry about a serious commitment to the lord later i'll worry about maybe professing my faith publicly later on there's plenty of time there's too much worldly fun to be had now no i plead with you no because each and every person has some sort of a relationship with the lord either you belong to him by faith because of the lord jesus christ and you enjoy his favor or you don't belong to Him. And if you don't, His wrath is still against you, waiting to consume you. Don't wait, because no one knows the day or the hour. And the point is not to scare you into believing, because for those who trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, there is no fear, only true comfort of being safe in the hand of God. No need to fear death, no matter how it happens, no matter what age. It may be a car accident at 50 years old or even at 20 years old. It may be a massive stroke at 48 years old. It may be a heart attack at 53 years old. It may be something else. We simply don't know. And there's absolutely no guarantee that any one of us will be given any sort of a warning, even with regard to an illness that one might have that will take your life or my life. There's no guarantee that God is going to prolong that illness and give any one of us time to get things in order. Hear the word of God. Seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to the Lord that he may have mercy on him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon. Seek the Lord while he may be found. And you have one absolute guarantee right now. That's today. Such precious guarantee. The heavenly bridegroom prepares his people, beloved, by reminding us, I died for your sins, that you might be saved, but I'm no longer dead. I live. Because I live, you too shall live. Because I'm coming again. And therefore, in essence, he says to you and me, are you ready? Are you watching? Are you excited? Let's pray together. Our Father in heaven, Indeed, we praise You for Your Word, Your Word of truth. Indeed, we know, O Lord, that many doubt the truth of Your Word, parts of it or every part of it, but we thank You that by the blessing of Your Holy Spirit, by the gift of new life, through the gift of faith, we may know and believe its truth. And therefore, we pray that You would make each one of us ready for the day that our Lord Jesus comes again, whether by death or whether on the clouds of glory. Father, may we look expectantly for that day. May it be that we can't wait for that day and may we also then live this life in such a way that shows our eager expectation, longing for that day. Until then, Father, keep us always in Your care and may You, O Lord, be praised. by every breath that comes from Your people. Hear us, we ask for Jesus' sake, and in His name we pray these things. Amen.